A Letter to Those Still Eating And Wearing AnimalsA Vegan Health Article from All-Creatures.org

From

I understand that this can be a very touchy subject for
many of you and I want to ask you for just a few minutes of your time to
consider what I believe to be one of the great issues before us and one that, I
believe if we can grasp it and allow it to move us, can lead us to great change
personally and for this world.

I also came to realize that even as an “animal lover”
for my entire life, I was really just a lover of some species of animals.
Perhaps the ones that I chose to share my home with, particularly dogs and
cats. By my lifestyle and actions I obviously didn’t think the same way
about chickens, pigs, cows, and fish, because I didn’t seem to have any
problem with eating them or using products from them.

Dear Friend,

Thank you for allowing me to refer to you as that…even though we may have
never met. I just want you to know that this is not going to be an
antagonistic letter in any way. I would like to speak to you as a friend
would to another…with care, concern, frankness, and with great love. I
understand that this can be a very touchy subject for many of you and I want
to ask you for just a few minutes of your time to consider what I believe to
be one of the great issues before us and one that, I believe if we can grasp
it and allow it to move us, can lead us to great change personally and for
this world.

Up until about seven years ago, I had very little concern as to whether
or not I was eating animals or using the skin or products from them to
clothe me or furnish my home. What started out as a journey to optimize my
health led to so much more and a lifestyle that has changed almost
everything about me. I wanted to get to be the best that I could be and
hopefully prolong this wonderful life in any way possible. I discovered
after months of research that most of the things that contribute to our
sickness and death are diet related. That was actually good news, because
that was something that I could control.

What I found out beyond that,
though, really surprised me. Of the foods that we eat, meat and dairy are
two of the greatest contributors to poor health and eventually death.
Cholesterol was not coming from plants, but from consuming animal products.
Heart disease was our leading health nemesis and meat and dairy are directly
contributing to this condition. I came to realize that all of the talk about
needing meat to get our protein to grow strong and needing dairy to build
strong bones and teeth was just an elaborate way to get us to buy a product
and make money for someone else. It has been perpetuated for generations and
is just not true. I do not like to be deceived, and I had been for most of
my life in this way. I found that we can get everything we need and more for
our bodies to be healthy and strong without having to kill or use an animal
to get it.

I also came to realize that even as an “animal lover” for my entire life,
I was really just a lover of some species of animals. Perhaps the ones that
I chose to share my home with, particularly dogs and cats. By my lifestyle
and actions I obviously didn’t think the same way about chickens, pigs,
cows, and fish, because I didn’t seem to have any problem with eating them
or using products from them. That did not really qualify me as much of an
animal lover then, did it? Even though I considered myself a pretty aware
person, I seemed to have little regard for the marine animals taken out of
the wild and held in captivity and forced to put on shows for our benefit.
The same for animals that I found were held in captivity and often abused
for our entertainment in circuses. Zoos were not much better for the most
part. Animals are also being needlessly and cruelty tested daily in labs.
For most of my life I had been complicit in contributing to the captivity,
torture, and death of animals.

This was never more apparent than when it came to the food that I ate. I
learned about the realities and horrors of factory farming, where we get
most of the meat that we consume and all of the other related animal
products. Artificial insemination, hormones, disease, antibiotics, babies
separated from mothers at birth, pain, agony, horrific confinement, short
life spans, torture, and a cruel death are only some of the things to
describe what factory farming is today. By buying meat and animal products
of any kind, I was contributing to this whole dastardly, sick model invented
by the human mind and carried out by human hands. It disgusts me to think
that we have allowed ourselves as a human race to come to the point where we
are somehow “okay” with treating another sentient being in this way. Knowing
that they feel pain, have feelings, emotions, reason, and so many of the
other things that we possess and enjoy as humans. I chose not to contribute
to any of this in any way by my lifestyle. When I made this decision, animal
lives were being saved as a result of the way I had chosen to live. Ernest
Hemingway said, “You are so brave and quiet, I forget you are suffering.” I
will never forget the suffering of these animals and I will be a voice for
them until we see them truly set free to live out the lives in peace and
freedom that they have every right to have.

I also had no idea the impact that the use and exploitation of animals
has upon our environment. How precious food and water resources are diverted
away from people who need them and being given to feed livestock being
produced for our consumption. It is an extremely inefficient use of our
resources. People are not only dying as result, on the front and back end of
things, but it is polluting our planet as well. It is a major contributor to
water, air, and ground pollution. It is contributing right now to major
deforestation, that frankly, we can’t even realize what the effect of that
will eventually be. By scaling back and hopefully eliminating production and
consumption of animals, we will contribute to the preservation of this
planet in one of the greatest ways possible. Personally, making this
decision to forego animal products of any kind is one of the greenest,
compassionate, and most responsible things that we can do a resident of this
planet. It feels really good to know that by my actions, I am making a
difference in another way to help not only myself, the animals, but the
Earth as well.

For most of my adult life, spirituality has been very important to me. I
spent over two decades in the vocational ministry, primarily working with
teens and professional athletes. It was all about care, kindness, and love
for one another and making a difference. I came to the point of realizing in
my own life that my attitudes and actions towards animals for most of my
life was not really in alignment with my beliefs. I could not pick and
choose which sentient beings, which of God’s creatures, that I could give
and demonstrate my love. There is no way, no matter how spiritual, pious, or
religious one might claim to be…that you could sit through a screening of
Earthlings, for example, and say that that this treatment and torture of
animals was acceptable or right in any way. It was an affront to everything
that I ever held sacred and it impacted me to my core. There is no way that
we can claim to want to have life, and life more abundantly, while
contributing to and consuming abuse, fear, torture, and death. You can never
reconcile that, no matter how hard you try. If you want life, then try
consuming life…and not death.

I also want to be on the right side of history. For centuries people held
to beliefs and practices that we now hold to be cruel, antiquated, and a
violation of basic human rights. We are mostly incredulous now that people
once held a notion or supported a practice of human slavery, denial of
voting and other rights for women, and civil rights for all people. We have
seen this same struggle for gay rights over the past few decades and I
believe we are coming to the same conclusion on that. We are facing this
issue like never before in regards to animal rights. This is not new and has
been building for century upon century, but we are moving towards the day
when animals will be recognized for what they truly are and will be granted
rights and protection. The generations to come will look back on this time
and also wonder how people once treated animals in this way. How will you
respond when asked which side of history you were on? I implore you to
consider this like never before. It is a matter of saving lives…your own and
that of countless animals. It is about restoring and protecting the
environment. It is about revitalizing and freeing your own spirits. A vegan
is someone who consciously by their lifestyle, to the very best of their
ability, does not harm/consume animals or products from them. This is not
about a term or label for a lifestyle, though. It is about thinking, acting,
and living in true love and compassion for all living creatures. It is not
only for yourself, but for the animals, and for our planet. I ask you now to
become a part of the change that is happening in our world. The sooner the
better…for every being and everything concerned. I can attest, that If you
choose to live consciously in this way, you will forever be glad that you
did.

Respectfully and compassionately,
PG

Paul Graham was born and raised in Northern California and has lived in
Las Vegas since 2004. He is a top wedding officiate, a green Realtor and
writer. He has a daily vegan food blog,
Eating
Vegan in Vegas which is 365 days and 365 vegan meals in Las Vegas.

Paul’s e-book, Eating Vegan in Vegas: If It Can Happen Here, It Can
Happen Anywhere is now available at www.sullivanstpress.com.

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